Case Number 12387: Small Claims Court

THE ADVENTURES OF AQUAMAN: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

The Charge

"Aquaman! Swift and powerful monarch of the ocean. With ability to
summon and command all creatures of the deep. Aquaman! Who with his teenage ally
Aqualad, guards and defends all that lives in the seas against the forces of
evil. Aquaman! King of the seven seas."

The Case

Starting out as a second-string superhero when he was first created in 1941,
Aquaman grew in popularity to the point where he became a founding member of the
Justice League of America in 1962. The character is amazingly simple in his
composition, a man who has super strength in water and can command the ocean's
multitudes of sea creatures. Perhaps it's that simplicity that makes Aquaman so
appealing and almost classical in his mythology. I mean, who wouldn't want to
have super strength, communicate telepathically with sea creatures, be able to
breathe under water, and be known as the "King of the Seven Seas" or
the "Monarch of Atlantis"?

Just as little girls are fascinated with mermaids, little boys have Aquaman
to admire beneath the waves. In some ways like Superman, Aquaman serves as a
global guardian, watching over Earth's oceans and the creatures that live there.
But unlike nearly every other superhero in the Marvel or DC universes, Aquaman
has no secret identity to protect; he's just, well...Aquaman.

More recently in his history, Aquaman appeared in an episode of
Smallville as the focus of a pilot from Smallville creators Al
Gough and Miles Millar for a new live-action TV series for the WB. With the
merger of the WB and UPN networks into the CW Network, executives at the new
network passed on the show. Ironically, when the unaired pilot was offered for
download on iTunes, it quickly became the most downloaded TV show in the iTunes
TV catalog, so the mystery remains why CW didn't pick up a show that appears to
have a ready made fan base.

I have fond memories of The Adventures of Aquaman on TV as I was
growing up. I remember coming home from school at lunch and plunking down for
some aquatic goodness before rushing back to school. Doubtless I was watching
reruns, as the show first aired two years before I was born. As I rewatched the
series in preparation for my review, from the moment I saw the first frame of
the show and the opening theme began, vivid childhood memories flooded (sorry!)
back to me.

Airing on CBS in 1967, Aquaman was produced by Filmation, an
animation company that produced cartoon and live-action shows from the late '60s
through the late '80s. For children of the '70s and '80s like me, Filmation
means great shows like The Batman/Superman Hour, The Archie Comedy
Hour, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Star Trek: The Animated
Series, Shazam!, Isis, Tarzan and the Super 7, and
many, many more.

Likely the first appearance of Aquaman in an animated form, Aquaman
is relatively standard '60s Saturday morning superhero cartoon fare; the good
guys are pretty much minding their own business, when the crazy bad guy comes
along with an evil plan and messes things up. Rarely a match for the hero, the
bad guys are thwarted and the world is happy again. Throw in the odd exclamation
like "holy haddock" and "leapin' lionfish" from Aquaman's
teen sidekick Aqualad, and you've got '60s TV animated magic.

All 36 episodes of the series are included on this The Adventures of
Aquaman: The Complete Collection release, grouped in pairs of two and spread
over two discs. The episodes are listed in the disc menus, but are not
accessible other than through a "play" function that starts from the
beginning and plays through all the episodes in sequence.

Disc One: * Menace of the Black Manta/The Rampaging Reptile
Men * The Return of Nepto/The Fiery Invaders * The Sea Raiders/War
of the Water Worlds * The Volcanic Monster/The Crimson Monster From The
Pink Pool * The Ice Dragon/The Deadly Drillers * Vassa, Queen Of The
Mermen/The Microscopic Monsters * The Onslaught Of The Octomen/Treacherous
Is The Torpedoman * The Satanic Saturnians/The Brain, The Brave and The
Bold * Where Lurks the Fisherman/Mephisto's Marine Marauders

Disc Two: * The Trio Of Terror/The Torp, The Magneto And The
Claw * Goliaths Of The Deep Sea Gorge/The Sinister Sea Scamp * The
Devil Fish/The Sea Scavengers * In Captain 'Cuda's Clutches/The Mirror Man
From Planet Imago * The Sea Sorcerer/The Sea Snares Of Captain Sly *
The Undersea Trojan Horse/The Vicious Villainy Of Vassa * Programmed For
Destruction/The War Of The Quatix And The Bimphabs * The Stickmen Of
Stygia/Three Wishes To Trouble * The Silver Sphere/To Catch A
Fisherman

The Adventures of Aquaman: The Complete Collection fares surprisingly
well on this first-ever DVD release. There is some damage and dirt visible on
the print, but it's surprisingly minimal, considering the age of the show.
Colors are nice and vibrant and blacks are solid -- an important factor,
considering the majority of the show's elements have black borders and shading.
The audio presentation isn't particularly dynamic, but it remains clear at all
times, and there is a consistently effective balance between dialogue, effects
and music.

Yes, that's Ted Knight from The Mary Tyler Moore Show as the show's
narrator; I thought I recognized his voice right away and a quick stop at the
Internet Movie Database confirmed my suspicions. If you listen carefully, Knight
also provides the voices for assorted other characters in the series. Also worth
noting is the show's closing theme, which reminds me of a blend of the Looney
Tunes theme and a cheesy Broadway show; it's over the top, but it's fun. The
sound effects used in the show were also familiar from other Filmation programs
I watched as a child.

Found on Disc Two, the retrospective featurette "Aquaman: The Sovereign
of the Seas" is the sole extra feature included with this release. If
you've possibly just surfaced from the bottom of the ocean and aren't familiar
with the character, this feature is an excellent introduction to Aquaman, his
history, and the breadth of media he has impacted. If you're already a fan,
you'll find yourself justified and renewed in your dedication to the emerald and
yellow maritime monarch.

If you grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the '60s and '70s, you
may fondly remember Aquaman from your childhood. Although the show isn't
up to the standards of today's animated superhero TV shows on the writing or
production fronts, after forty years it still holds up as a simple show with a
great leading character and a whole lot of fun.